It Ended Before It Started
by JeanaStar
Summary: Honestly, Max should have foreseen this. He should have known that dating Neil wouldn't end happily.


**It turns out, I never actually posted this story to this site? Which means y'all accidentally saw it's sequel first. Whoops.**

 **So, this one is the prequel to It Started From The Wreakage. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was night when it happened.

In hindsight, Max should have expected it.

He was walking home from Neil's place, Neil having decided to accompany him for some reason. The chill autumn air nipped at Max's face, and he shivered.

"Max."

"Hm?"

Max turned to Neil, curious.

Even though he should have expected it, Max was still surprised when Neil leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He stood motionless for a few seconds before his face reddened, and he stuttered.

"Whuh - wh - what -?" Neil smirked.

"What?"

"Wha - you just -"

"Yeah?"

"I - ...Okay."

Max tugged his hood as far over his face as he could, and trudged forward. When they reached his house, he tried making a hasty goodbye and getaway, but Neil wasn't having it.

"Now hold on, Max."

Max turned, ready to retort something mean, when Neil kissed him again.

This time, on the lips.

Max leaned back against the door, eyes falling shut. Neil's hands were placed around his head like a halo, as if shielding him from...something. Neil broke away, and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Max~"

And with that, Neil left.

Max slid down onto the doorstep, wondering what he was going to do.

X-X-X-X

"Uh, hey, Nikki?"

"Yeah, Max?"

"Um…" The green-haired girl frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nnh...nothing's wrong, I just...have something to ask you."

"What is it…?"

"...How did you ask Nerris out?" Nikki smiled.

"I simply went up to her, and said "Hey Nerris! I kinda just realized that I have a major crush on you! Wanna go out?"' She giggled fondly. "Nerris was soooo stoked about going on a date with me, it was adorable!" Nikki gasped. "Oh, oh! Are you planning on asking someone out?"

"Well -"

"Is it Neil? I bet it's Neil!" Max gaped at the girl before her.

"...How did you know?"

"Well, Neil's been telling me that he planned to ask you out soon! Did he ask yet? You two would be very cute together!" Nikki leaned in with a smirk, and Max blushed.

"Uh, well he didn't ask. More like he just...up and kissed me."

"Ohhhhhh your first kiss! Eeeeeeee! Finally it happened!"

"Ugh, it's not that big a deal!"

"Of course it is! That was your first kiss and it was with Neil! You are saying yes, right?"

"I - ….Maybe?" Nikki frowned.

"What do you mean, "maybe"?"

"It's just...ugh this is stupid...I don't know how I'd say yes." Max dropped his head onto his desk, muttering, "Why is this so difficult…" Nikki jumped up from her seat and patted Max on the head.

"Aw, it's okay Max! You just gotta be honest about how you feel!"

"And how am I gonna do that? You know how I am."

"I know you're bad at speaking the truth when it comes to what you're feeling, but I believe in you! I can give you a few pointers! Ohhh, I can be your wingman! Winglady. Wing-person? Hm. I know! I'll be your winglady, and Nerris can be your wing-person!" Max groaned.

"Please don't bring Nerris into this." Nikki laughed as the bell rang, signaling the end to study hall.

"Sorry, Max! Gotta bring the datefriend into everything!"

X-X-X-X

Max was at his place playing video games. David was making dinner, and Harrison was working on a new spell upstairs in their shared bedroom. Neil was beside him, tinkering with some new invention of his. Max glanced at him.

"Neil…" He looked up.

"Yeah?"

"You...know how you...k-kissed me...the other day?" Neil smirked.

"Yes, I remember. What about it?"

"W-well…" Max sucked in a breath. Held it. Closed his eyes. And spoke.

"Iwouldn'tminddatingyouyou'reactuallyreallycuteandIthinkI'vebeencrushingonyouforawhilenowandonlyjustrealized." Neil blinked.

"Max. Come again?"

Max hid his face in his hands.

Neil sighed, and removed Max's hands from his face. "Max, it's okay. Just say it again. Much slower this time."

"...I….wouldn't mind…..dating….you…." Neil smiled.

"There. Not so hard, was it?" Max grumbled, looking away. Neil scooted closer, taking Max's face in his hands. "I wouldn't mind dating you, either."

He kissed Max again, and Max felt butterflies.

X-X-X-X

Over the next week, Max and Neil had gone on their first date, kissed some more, and held hands. It was shaping up to be a good relationship.

But it didn't stay that way.

Honestly, Max should have foreseen this. He should have known that dating Neil wouldn't end happily.

There were still butterflies in Max's stomach. And his heart hammered in his chest whenever Neil's lips touched his. But quickly, the brightness of their relationship dimmed.

This started because of Neil getting angry.

At first, Neil would blow up over things such as school and grades. Max already knew how he reacted towards those things, so he would give Neil some space to cool off. But sometimes, Neil would freak out because something Max gave him wasn't a pleasing color, or because something he was currently holding didn't seem to be the right texture. In a lot of these cases, there wasn't much Max could do but wait for Neil to cool off on his own. Except sometimes he just...wouldn't cool off. He'd stay upset over the littlest things. This would upset Max, and he had tried to talk to the brown haired teen about it, but Neil didn't seem to think there was a problem.

At first, Max figured that Neil was right, and there was nothing to be worried over.

Until Neil started expressing his anger physically.

At most, Neil would flail his arms about when he got worked up enough. But some days, he would be furious enough to slam his hands on a table, or bang on the walls multiple times. It was starting to be enough to make Max flashback to his unhappy childhood. When this happened, he'd start to panic, and Neil would immediately stop what he was doing to console Max, apologizing profusely.

Then there were the times that Max saw Neil hit others. This would happen when Neil was incredibly irate. Whoever was on the reciprocating end of the anger would not be in for a good time. Surprisingly, this never occurred within school, so the Jewish boy's school record was still perfect. However many times Max had seen this happen, he never once thought this level of fury would be aimed towards him.

X-X-X-X

Max didn't mean for this to happen. It wasn't on purpose that Max left his ps4 controller in the middle of the floor. He had gotten distracted, and forgot to pick it up. He wouldn't have purposely left it where it was. Everyone knows that leaving stuff on the ground poses a safety hazard. One could trip over the item.

That being said, he never expected to slip on the remote, rather than trip over it. He had fallen backwards, grabbing onto the railing of Neil's newly built techno-whatever for support.

Unfortunately, the railing wasn't meant to hold his weight.

Max crashed into the machine, and it broke.

Neil had rushed out of the bathroom to see what the commotion was, worries dying on his lips as he stared at his boyfriend and the broken parts of his latest project in stunned horror.

"...Max…...what the fudge."

"N-Neil, I'm sorry -"

"What the heck Max, you know how long I spent on that machine? You know how many months of planning and blueprints I had to do?"

"Neil -"

"This wasn't just an everyday project, Max! Didn't I tell you that this was for a university contest? There were professional scientists looking forward to seeing this!"

"L-l-listen, I -"

Neil slammed his fist into the wall beside him.

Max shook.

Neil stalked towards Max, and he scrambled to get away from the Jewish boy. Neil was fast, and he pinned Max down.

"What. Were you freaking. Thinking."

"It - it wasn't on purpose, I -"

"It wasn't on purpose~!" Neil mimicked crudely.

"B-but it wasn't -"

"Shut your mouth, Max!" Neil grabbed Max by his shirt collar. His fists dug into Max's neck. "Do you not understand what you've done?! I can't just restart this, the project deadline is in a month! A month, Max!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm -"

There was a sudden blow to Max's cheek, and he lay his head back, before fully processing what had happened.

Neil had hit him.

Neil had hit him.

Neil swung at Max's face again, and he tried to move out of the way, but couldn't. He kicked and screamed, finally managing to shove Neil off of himself. He scurried and ran towards the front door, Neil grabbing him and shoving him roughly to the ground. Max curled up into a ball, starting to sob. He heard Neil's footstep getting closer. The boy covered his head, starting to hyperventilate.

"...Max."

The raven haired teen slowly looked up at his boyfriend. Instead if seeing anger, he saw a look of horror on the other's face.

It seemed Neil had finally realized what he'd done.

"...Get out…."

"...wha….?"

"Get out! Leave! I - don't - !" Neil covered his face with a hand, staring at his other hand in fear. "Don't...d-don't stay here...I…I'm a monster…..I…..Oh gosh, oh gosh…!"

Neil broke, collapsing to the ground with a body wracking sob.

Max slowly stood up.

Backed away.

And ran.


End file.
